Is firing a probationary employee for no reason illegal?

I recently forced a probationary employee to resign which I have concerns about. He worked for me for two weeks when another employee came to me and advised me that he (the other employee) didn't like the new hire. The other employee is not a supervisor nor has any responsibility for this new hire.

Unfortunately, the other employee has the ability to have me terminated. When I called the new hire into my office, I told him that basically he needed to resign or I would terminate him. The new hire asked why, and I just told him I did not need a reason as he was on probation.

I don't feel very good about this and I have concerns about it. The new hire had left another well paid job when he accepted the position with me.

Should I worry? Did I do something wrong?

Rita Risser's response:

You can answer that last question yourself. You know you did something that was ethically wrong; you can feel it in your heart.

Did you do something illegal? That depends. Generally it is true that you do not need a reason to fire a probationary employee. Employees usually are at-will, meaning they can be fired for any reason or no reason.

But...why did this mysteriously powerful other employee force you to fire the employee? If the other employee was acting out of some racial or other bias, perhaps there could be a claim for discrimination.

The fact that you, in essence, lured the employee to leave a secure position to take a job with you might be grounds for an action for fraud. However, in order to prove fraud the employee would have to show that at the time you hired him, you knew you were going to unfairly terminate him.

This situation may fall through the legal cracks, but it sure smells wrong. I hope you are doing what you can to help the employee you fired get another job. And I hope you are doing whatever you can to stop the mysteriously powerful other employee from wreaking havoc in your organization.

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